To be able to operate any type of forklift, specific OSHA requirements need to be met. Several businesses offer basic awareness training to other individuals such as visitors and office employees or sales people and other non-operators who may venture into the warehouse or yard. Even if OSHA doesn't particularly deal with lift truck pedestrian training, the OSHA General Duty Clause dictates that employers need to take measures in order to protect employees from some dangers, such as pedestrians exposed to lift trucks in motion.
A big problem that would have to be dealt with is pedestrian safety. According to the NIOSH or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; roughly 20 percent of all forklift mishaps include a pedestrian being struck by a forklift. This statistic translates to approximately 19,000 individuals every year.
Nonetheless briefly or frequently people are around industrial trucks during their work day, there are some basic steps that should be taken so as to keep everybody safe. Amongst the major factors is that lift truck pedestrian accidents often occur in cases where the pedestrian is ignorant of safety precautions. Problems also occur more frequently when the pedestrian ends up complacent because she or he has become used to frequent interaction with forklifts.
There are some common situations to look out for so as to prevent placing yourself at possible risk from being struck by a lift truck. Pedestrians not seeing the lift truck is a common issue that has to be addressed. A lot operations have varying degrees of intersections or blind corners which pedestrians must know. At times pedestrians do not hear the forklift. Be careful of the various kinds of power sources. For example, electric trucks could be a lot quieter than IC engines which are really loud.
The other main issues are when pedestrians come in too near the machine. Common sense tells us that in order for a pedestrian to be injured by a forklift, the pedestrian has to be in close enough proximity to be struck. For a lift truck which is running, a four foot safety zone is suggested in order to make a safe perimeter for everybody. This helps to address risks like for instance the model accidentally driving over a pedestrian's foot.
Following and implementing strict safety protocol helps to make certain that the workplace safety stays top notch and remains paramount.